Leading Age - January/February 2011 - 4

vision
You Are LeadingAge
his is an important time in our history, as we prepare for our Jan. 25 re-christening as LeadingAge. It’s a big change in many ways, but its essence is a smooth and perfectly natural transition: It’s fitting that we become LeadingAge because we’ve always been LeadingAge. If I may back up a little: Five years ago we introduced our Five Big Ideas, based on scenario planning concepts and transLarry Minnix, Jr. formational leadership principles. Those five ideas—Quality, Transitions, Talent, Finance and Technology—will continue to guide us under our new name and our restated mission: Expanding the World of Possibilities for Aging. Through our new name and restated mission, we renew our commitment to leadership. Renew is the key word—because our members have been transformational for generations.

What We Are and Have Always Been In the midst of great uncertainty, in times that call for renewal, there are fundamental tried-and-true things we know about ourselves as leaders:
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We are perceptive enough to know that the aging phenomenon is now at our doorstep and demands vision and stewardship. We are experienced enough to know that small thinking and incremental change are inadequate to meet growing needs. We are confident enough to know that there are solutions to the problems we face. We are industrious enough to know that our hard work can make a difference. We are visionary enough to either know what to do or how to figure it out. We are courageous enough to lead. We are wise enough to ask the right questions.

Five Big Ideas and LeadingAge Our first Big Idea is Quality, so leadership question one is, whose quality is it? Our members have developed many examples of person-centered, specialized, transparent and accountable services. As an organization we have been leaders in helping to create several ground-breaking, broad-based national quality initiatives. As LeadingAge we will live this
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LeadingAge magazine | January/February 2011

commitment to person-centered quality. Aging involves difficult Transitions in a complex delivery system, our second Big Idea. So the question becomes, who is the trusted guide to help individuals make those decisions and navigate the path? Who is more trusted than groups like you who represent the not-for-profit sector—organizations that have stood the test of time? Yes, you should be the trusted guide as LeadingAge in every community in America and many around the world. Achieving quality and building trust depends on Talent, our third Big Idea. Talented people, especially those involved in direct service, are as essential to quality and trust in our field as the open-heart surgeon is to an emergency bypass procedure. So our next leadership question is who creates the culture that develops trusted and competent talent. Even with constraints of land and legalities, culture transformation is essential. Yes, you continue to be LeadingAge around healthy cultures and have been for a long time. Better use of resources is a global imperative, not just a noble aspiration. So the leadership question around the Big Idea of Finance is who defines stewardship? Some members say the silver lining of the cloud of recession has been the mandate to do a better job with limited resources. Stewardship, when combined with transformation, is our ethos. Stewardship is the place where value meets values and LeadingAge will continue to do so. This brings us to the tools we need to help us with the other four leadership questions. Technology, our fifth Big Idea, is a major answer. The question is who pioneers the technology? Our visionary members are bridging the gap between technology developers and seniors who want to stay out of hospitals and maintain function in their own homes. Members’ knowledge of service to seniors and their families, plus the work of our Center for Aging Services Technologies (CAST) to bring technology and people together, is LeadingAge. Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, says we choose to be great and choose to lead. The pressing needs of people call out to us every day in dramatic ways. Regardless of your religious background, the most profound leadership question of over three millennia of recorded ethical human history is found in Isaiah when God asks “Whom shall I send?” Isaiah responded, “Here I am. Send me.” As we renew our leadership commitment as LeadingAge, know that millions of people, past, present and future are— and will be—better off, because you answer that call every day when you come to work. You are saying by your actions, “Here I am. Send me.” Each and every one of you are LeadingAge.

Leading Age - January/February 2011

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